n Lewis Hamilton says he would we-
come a partnership with Sebastian Vettel
in the future, dismissing suggestions by
Red Bull team principal Chrsitian Horner
that it would be impossible to have two
talented world champions at the energy
drinks outfit. “It can work,” Hamilton
told British media in Malaysia. “ The only
reason I would imagine that he [Horner]
would suggest that is because certain
individuals don’t like being beaten.”
Although Hamilton has a contract with
McLaren until the end of 2012, rumours
have linked him to a Red Bull seat recent-
ly, with his comments at the weekend
failing to dampen the speculation.
n Virgin Racing refugee Lucas di Grassi
will get back behind the wheel of a For-
mula One car in Barcelona next month to
test for tyre supplier Pirelli, as the Italian
company looks for a replacement tester
now that Pedro de la Rosa has rejoined
McLaren as reserve driver. Nick Heidfeld,
De la Rosa and Romain Grosjean have all
been a test driver for Pirelli over the past
eight months, but all are otherwise en-
gaged leaving Di Grassi the best remain-
ing choice for them to continue their tyre
development.
n Circuit commentator and bronzed
adonis Bob Constanduros, 64, came in for
a bit of a ribbing in the post-qualifying
press conference. “I have a question for
you,” said Lewis Hamilton to the ques-
tion-master. “I’ve been here God knows
how many years now, five years. You al-
ways have the best tan. Where have you
been?” “Without sun tan lotion by the
looks of it,” chipped in Mark Webber, “Do
you wear Speedos?” before explaining to
Sebastian Vettel what ‘budgie smugglers’
refers to.
n The Formula One Teams’ Association
(FOTA) met in Malaysia on Sunday to
finalise their management structure for
the coming season. As expected Martin
Whitmarsh stays on as chairman of the
group, but will this year be supported by
Renault’s team principal Eric Boullier in
the position of vice chairman, replacing
Stefano Domenicali. Red Bull’s team prin-
cipal Christian Horner stays on as chair-
man of the sporting regulations working
group, while Ferrari’s technical director
Aldo Costa takes over from Ross Brawn
as chairman of the technical regulations
working group
Short
Straights
TEAM Lotus emerged enthused, confi-
dent and optimistic from yesterday’s
Malaysian Grand Prix, after making
their long-awaited push towards
the grid’s midfield after just over 12
months in the sport.
Had it not been for a few mistakes
on his final qualifying lap on Saturday,
Heikki Kovalainen may well have grad-
uated to Q2 on merit, while in Sunday’s
race the Finn finished within half a
second of Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari
after 55 laps of hard racing.
On Saturday, chief technical officer
Mike Gascoyne was adamant that the
pace had been in the car to get through
to Q2, while team principal Tony
Fernandes was ecstatic to see his cars so
close to beating some of the established
teams on merit.
“ Words cannot express how happy
and overjoyed I am right now. To see 18
months of hard work come good with
us finishing within a couple of tenths of
teams that have been around for a long
time, and less than a second away from
the midfield pack, that is an amazing
achievement,” said Fernandes. “It is made
even more satisfying after what has been
a pretty hard winter test program, taking
on the issues we have been working
through and, honestly, not a great start
to the season - but this is a great feeling.”
Sunday’s race was equally encour-
aging with Heikki Kovalainen closing
to within half a second of Alguersuari
at the flag, while impressively finishing
75 seconds clear of Timo Glock’s Virgin.
“A very strong race from both drivers
although unfortunately Jarno stopped in
the garage with a clutch sensor problem,”
revealed Gascoyne.
“ We looked to do a two stop strategy
with both cars. We might have struggled
with Jarno as his tyre degradation was
slightly higher, but it worked well with
Heikki. Overall our pace was very good at
the end, particularly when we were with
the leading cars, and we were very close
to passing one of the Torro Rossos as we
came over the line which shows how we
have progressed.
“ This weekend has been by far our
strongest race performance since we
came back into Formula One, so it is
good to be racing again.”
With a major car update planned for
Barcelona, the prospect of seeing a Team
Lotus car back in the points for the first
time since August 1993 is becoming ever-
more realistic.
Team Lotus overjoyed
Kovalainen finishes within touching
distance of established teams
10